The Repeated Meme:Maybe I should be telling some of you to get off my lawn, but I remember a time going toe to toe with the the Russkies, a country with an ACTUAL ability to destroy America, and everyone being quite manly about it.

Now, it's all "OMG teh Iranians are going to get us all!ELEVENTY!!11!!!!"

Any Farkers able to accurately pinpoint the year America became a nation of girly men?

Maybe I should be telling some of you to get off my lawn, but I remember a time going toe to toe with the the Russkies, a country with an ACTUAL ability to destroy America, and everyone being quite manly about it.

Now, it's all "OMG teh Iranians are going to get us all!ELEVENTY!!11!!!!"

Any Farkers able to accurately pinpoint the year America became a nation of girly men?

When I find myself in a bar, and some little twerp 1/3 my size is aggressively baiting me into kicking his ass, and neither the barkeeper or any of the patrons present seem to find this behavior objectionable, I leave - and take my self and my money and my business elsewhere.Your mileage may vary.

The puffing-up of Iran as a viable threat started under Bush and has went on non-stop, seamlessly with Obama. The executive branch has published a constant stream of propaganda regarding their military capability for over a decade. It's bullsh*t, but like good propaganda, it never stops and always appeals to irrational fear. Yes, this is an .ir site, but these "Iran is a threat" stories that make it to the US just haven't stopped in 10 years, and it's all bullsh*t.

Lumber Jack Off:The Repeated Meme: Maybe I should be telling some of you to get off my lawn, but I remember a time going toe to toe with the the Russkies, a country with an ACTUAL ability to destroy America, and everyone being quite manly about it.

Now, it's all "OMG teh Iranians are going to get us all!ELEVENTY!!11!!!!"

Any Farkers able to accurately pinpoint the year America became a nation of girly men?

The puffing-up of Iran as a viable threat started under Bush and has went on non-stop, seamlessly with Obama. The executive branch has published a constant stream of propaganda regarding their military capability for over a decade. It's bullsh*t, but like good propaganda, it never stops and always appeals to irrational fear. Yes, this is an .ir site, but these "Iran is a threat" stories that make it to the US just haven't stopped in 10 years, and it's all bullsh*t.

Pretty much like the whole cold war (fark you Dulles and your vested interests) - cept for the nuke part (which lets face it is a bit of a stalemate.)

For the girly men question how about when Truman wouldn't let bug out Doug finish off the norks while nuking bits of China? How many millions have died of starvation since then and how many more will die before someone puts North Korea out of its misery?

"Well, the United States doesn't consider Al Queda to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by a public records search has demonstrated a weakness in the Twin Towers. But the approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight downtown and skim the buildings to the World Trade Center. The target area is only two hundred feet wide. It's the upper floors of the towers. The structural steel is vulnerable to high heat, and the fire insulation is not blast rated. A precise hit will start a fire which should destroy the buildings. Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The buildings are bomb-hardened, so you'll have to use hijacked airplanes".

"Well, the United States doesn't consider Al Queda to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by a public records search has demonstrated a weakness in the Twin Towers. But the approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight downtown and skim the buildings to the World Trade Center. The target area is only two hundred feet wide. It's the upper floors of the towers. The structural steel is vulnerable to high heat, and the fire insulation is not blast rated. A precise hit will start a fire which should destroy the buildings. Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The buildings are bomb-hardened, so you'll have to use hijacked airplanes".

The Repeated Meme:Maybe I should be telling some of you to get off my lawn, but I remember a time going toe to toe with the the Russkies, a country with an ACTUAL ability to destroy America, and everyone being quite manly about it.

Now, it's all "OMG teh Iranians are going to get us all!ELEVENTY!!11!!!!"

Any Farkers able to accurately pinpoint the year America became a nation of girly men?

"The loss of U.S. military personnel during the Black Hawk Down operation evoked public outcry. Television images of American soldiers being dragged through the streets by Somalis were too graphic for the American public to endure.Fear of a repeat of the events in Somalia shaped U.S. policy in subsequent years, with many commentators identifying the Battle of Mogadishu's graphic consequences as the key reason behind the U.S.'s failure to intervene in later conflicts such as the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. After the battle, the bodies of several U.S. casualties of the conflict were dragged through Mogadishu's streets by crowds of local civilians and members of Aidid's Somali National Alliance. According to the U.S.'s former deputy special envoy to Somalia, Walter Clarke: "The ghosts of Somalia continue to haunt US policy. Our lack of response in Rwanda was a fear of getting involved in something like a Somalia all over again."

I have personally spoken to more than one survivor of the Battle of Mogadishu. The ones I have spoken with are still pissed at having been evac'd and not permitted to finish the job--and they do not blame General Garrison, they blame President Clinton.

The Repeated Meme:Any Farkers able to accurately pinpoint the year America became a nation of girly men?

I'd say we started tightening the band at the base of the testicles in `67 (first oil embargo- 6 day war - not much effect on PPG but leadership had their heads in the sand about what would happen if a better organized effort took off), probably testes began rotting in `73 (second embargo - yom kippur war - PPB shot up from around $2 - $12 and lines at the pumps). Oil & Israel, huh?

Instead of getting out of that part of the world and off that teat ASAP, by any means necessary (could have been done over a decade - nuclear and plenty of hydrocarbons here), we pansy as*sed and prevaricated and posed - cute and profitable to all but the Republic.

So, we continued sucking and farking with the natives and here we are (have been skimming IG's report on where that unaccounted for sixty billion went winging away to in Iraq - disgusting).

Bondith:Is this one of those times where the press screwed up somewhere along the line and "fleet" actually means "flotilla" or "squadron" or something? Like how every warship is a battleship and every Army unit and formation is a Division. I'm prepared as anyone to assume the Iranians are self-aggrandising, but the media are always due a good pillorying.

/"Bob served with A Division of the 1st Division of the 4th Division of the 101st Airborne Division. They were assigned to the XVIII Division under Third Division."

Nope in every press release the Iranians have described it as a fleet, these are the same 2 ships that went through the Suez canal a while back and visited Syria before the revolution started, theory is that these are the only 2 seaworthy ships the Iranians have since they are the only ones that venture more than a hour or so sailing distance from a port.

Is this one of those times where the press screwed up somewhere along the line and "fleet" actually means "flotilla" or "squadron" or something? Like how every warship is a battleship and every Army unit and formation is a Division. I'm prepared as anyone to assume the Iranians are self-aggrandising, but the media are always due a good pillorying.

/"Bob served with A Division of the 1st Division of the 4th Division of the 101st Airborne Division. They were assigned to the XVIII Division under Third Division."

A fleet consisting of two ships, one of which is a converted oil tanker and the other a 1970's-vintage ex-Royal Navy light frigate. A frigate which was taken out by a single laser-guided 500-pound bomb in the late 80s